ANAHEIM, Calif. -- It might take awhile for the Wild to move past scramble mode during this hectic, shortened NHL schedule.

Scramble mode has mostly worked for the Wild through the first one-sixth of the season, but with only about half as many practices as games during their 48-game schedule, refining plans and smoothing out mistakes will not come easy.

A turnover led to one goal and ineffective clearing led to another -- both by Kyle Palmieri, who was celebrating his 22nd birthday -- as the Anaheim Ducks defeated the Wild 3-1 on Friday, Feb. 1, in front of 13,007 at Honda Center.

"They played the type of game we want to play, and they executed a lot better than us," Wild coach Mike Yeo said.

Minnesota players got a day of rest heading into Minnesota's game against the Ducks, their third game in four nights.

They were fresh enough Friday, winger Dany Heatley said, but the Ducks controlled play in Minnesota's zone.

"What both teams wanted to do was get pucks in and play against the other team's 'D,' and they did a better job than us," he said. "We made a couple mistakes, and it cost us."

The Wild came to Anaheim with a 2-0-1 record in their previous three games despite some spotty play, and that early-season inconsistency appeared again early in this game.

Although the Ducks had 11 of the first 16 shots on goal and a territorial advantage, the Wild grabbed the early lead.

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Marco Scandella, who was playing in just his fourth game after missing the start with a groin injury, took a pass from Matt Cullen, and his wrist shot from above the left circle found an opening under Ducks goaltender Viktor Fasth to make it 1-0 halfway through the first period.

But that was the last of the offense for Minnesota.

Not enough practice?

"We can't use excuses," Scandella said. "We were fresh, and we've just got to come out hard."

Yeo refused to point fingers, but he might do just that in an upcoming practice.

"You can't win games when you don't have everybody," he said, "and we didn't have everybody tonight."

Cullen was hurt in the third period, and Yeo said he might have to make a few moves, whether Cullen is sidelined or not.

Niklas Backstrom made 13 first-period saves for the Wild, but Anaheim finally beat him when Bobby Ryan set up Palmieri 6:49 into the second period. The Ducks led 13-6 and 9-8 in shots on goal through two periods, and the most unusual aspect of that was the fact that Minnesota's No. 1 line of Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise and Heatley was held without a shot.

Heatley finally got that line's first shot on net during a power play with less than five minutes remaining in the third period. Then Parise got two more, but Fasth was there for his biggest save of the evening on Parise's backhander.

Talent often makes up for a lack of practice, as ageless Teemu Selanne proved early in the third period. Selanne, who at 42 is nearly twice as old as Palmieri, darted behind the Wild goal and fed a wide-open Palmieri in front for Anaheim's go-ahead goal 4:21 into the third period. Selanne's perfect power-play pass to Ryan after 18:26 of the third period made it 3-1.